The Arab League gave Syria until Sunday to sign an initiative to end its military crackdown on nearly a year of pro-democracy protests, Qatar's foreign minister said on Saturday.

"There has been some communication with the Syrians. If they want to come (and sign) tomorrow they can," said Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani, speaking in Doha after a meeting of an Arab foreign ministers committee tasked with following up on the Syrian crisis.

The committee also confirmed sanctions on Syria, freezing assets for 19 top officials and associates of President Bashar Assad's administration and banning them from traveling to Arab countries, a statement said.

It also ordered a 50 percent reduction in Syria flights.

The Arab League's moves came as at least 23 people were reported killed in Syria on Saturday as violence intensified in the eighth month of unrest against Assad, pushing the death toll close to 4,600, according to a leading activist group.

In a three-hour, night-time battle in the north-western city of Idlib near the Turkish border, seven members of the security forces, five army rebels and three civilians were killed, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said.

Five civilians were shot dead by security forces in central Homs province, and a man's body was returned to his family five days after he had been arrested.

The United Nations' top human rights forum has condemned Syria for "gross and systematic" violations by its forces, including executions and the imprisonment of some 14,000 people.

Syrian authorities say they are fighting foreign-backed "terrorist groups" trying to spark civil war who have killed some 1,100 soldiers and police since March.

An "Arab Spring" of revolts - triggered by an uprising in Tunisia in January - has reshaped the political landscape of the Middle East this year and toppled leaders in Egypt, Libya and Yemen.

Syrian opposition groups say defectors from Syria's conscript army are increasing their attacks on government security forces trying to suppress revolt against 41 years of Assad family rule.

Syria faces deepening international and regional isolation, with the
Arab League, the European Union and the United States piling on
increasingly tough sanctions to pressure Damascus to stop the bloodshed
and talk to its opponents.

China and Russia oppose sanctions and
last month scuppered Western efforts to pass a UN Security Council
resolution condemning Assad's government.

Syrian security forces report clashes with 'terrorists'

The
state news agency SANA gave a detailed account of operations by Syrian
security forces, including clashes with "terrorists", arrests, the
explosion of roadside bombs and the defusing of explosive devices.

It said special forces caught dozens of wanted men in the area of Tel
Kalakh who had been smuggling weapons, drugs and armed men from Lebanon
into Syria.

Special forces also captured 14 gunmen who, SANA said, had been killing and kidnapping civilians and soldiers.

According to the British-based SOHR, nearly a quarter of the 4,600 on its death toll are from Syrian security forces.

In Deraa, "special forces clashed with armed terrorist groups trying to
attack security centers in rural parts of the province. One of the
gunmen was killed in the exchange of fire," SANA reported.

"Special forces also clashed with armed terrorists in Idlib after they
tried to attack a public roads building and several security
detachments. Special forces were able to kill one of the gunmen and
wound a number of others. One member of the security forces was
injured."

Army engineers in Hama disabled two improvised explosive devices planted in the city, the agency reported.

The SANA correspondent said a source told the agency two other IEDs had
exploded, one when a security patrol was passing near a sports stadium,
injuring two. The second IED explosion caused no injuries.

In Lattakia, an IED exploded in front of an electrical workshop, starting a fire in which two people died, the agency reported.